Wind of Change
by vonnie836
Summary: Written for a challenge on CWESS, prompt by Spoilerwolf. Sam and Dean help Bobby with a hunt in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where people are getting killed by tornadoes that are not at all natural. LimpSam, HurtDean, HurtBobby
1. Chapter 1

This is for Spoilerwolf (Jess), I hope you like it. I tried to use everything from your promps.

1) A nice case fic would be cool - set in S1-S2 or pre-series. Limp!Sam of course Maybe... around Sam's birthday? This is Sam's b-day fic exchange, afterall.

2) I'd like to see Sam save the day - Dean must be included, and John/Bobby are optional. Of course, Sam must save the day while also injured Can be from seasons 1-3 (including pre-series) & excluding season 4-5.

Bonus points if you can include any of the following:  
- Save a puppy (okay, must be an ACTUAL puppy, not just Sam)  
- the words 'okie dokie' - said by anyone.  
- the guys mistaken for a gay couple ( that still gets me rolling everytime I see/hear it, lol)  
- And a brother hug - must be realistic and not over the top

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Wind of Change

The sun standing high in the blue sky was occasionally blocked by one of the fluffy white clouds that floated playfully along. A light breeze cooled the heated air to a perfect temperature. It was the perfect day for a family picnic, something that Sandra Johnson had convinced her husband off only an hour ago. The convincing had actually consisted of packing the kids in the car seats and handing him the cooler filled with some of his favorite foods, before climbing into the passenger seat of the family van. She smiled as she thought of the look on Jake's face, when he finally put the cooler in the back and joined her. There had been no need to ask where she wanted to go, he knew her favorite place.

Sitting on the blanket and enjoying the view off the cliff over the valley below, she listened to the laughing and happy screaming that came from behind her, where Jake was playing ball with eight year old Jimmy and ten year old Brooklyn. It was good to hear her husband have fun with the kids; he was working way too hard. She continued to allow her thoughts to wander, when the scream of a bird of prey made her turn.

It was a red tailed hawk, sitting on the branch of one of the large fir trees. It was large, even for a male of its species and the eyes with which it watched the kids and Jake showed an intelligence that was almost eerie. Letting out another screech, it swung itself into the air and disappeared into the forest.

A sudden heaviness seemed to fill the air, making it almost hard to breath. Even her family seemed to notice, as they seized there play and stood silent. Sandra noticed the mild breeze seized and the noises of the insects and birds quieted. For a moment it seemed like there was no noise at all then unexpectedly a roar ruptured the forest. Trees, hundreds of years old, fell, split apart like toothpicks, as a whirlwind broke through them. Before she was capable of moving even one limb, the small but powerful cyclone engulfed her family and sucked them up into the air. Making an unbelievable 180 degree turn, it disappeared on the exactly same path it had come, leaving three broken bodies behind in its wake.

It took the wife and mother five minutes, before she was able to stand up and tumble over to the lifeless bodies of what had been her family only a few minutes ago. Letting out a scream of despair, she crumbed to the ground unconscious.

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"Thanks see you tomorrow!" Dean Winchester closed his cell phone and shoved it back into this jeans pocket. Seeing his brother stand in the doorway, he said, "That was Bobby; he wants us to meet him in Rapid City at noon tomorrow. Said there might be a case, he'll tell us more when we get there."

"Rapid City? Dude, that means we have to drive through without a break and that only, if we leave right now."

"Yeah, so?" Dean shrugged his shoulders, "Got a problem with that?"

Knowing he would loose any argument with his older brother, Sam replied, "Guess not, as long as you take the first leg of the drive."

"Let's pack up then!"

The older man threw him the empty duffel bag that was sitting on the floor beside him, before moving into the bathroom to retrieve their toiletries.

With the weapons already safely stored in their hiding place, it didn't take them long to pack up the rest. Twenty minutes later they were an the road with Dean behind the wheel, accompanying John Hetfield blaring out the lyrics to "The Four Horsemen", while Sam checked the map in an attempt to find a way, that might save them some time.

"Got it!" He finally called out, "If we go south for about thirty miles, we can take I-25 south most the way. That looks like the fastest way."

"Already on it!" Dean grinned. It wasn't the first time he was in this area and had to make his way up to South Dakota. Sure, he could have told his brother, but Sam had so got so excited, if he could find a faster route for them, why take the fun away from him?

SN SN SN SN SN

Dean glanced over at the sleeping form of his gigantic little brother huddled up in the passenger seat. It amazed him time and time again that the kid could sleep this deeply all cramped up in the car, while he didn't seem to be able to find any rest stretched out in a motel room bed. Yet he knew, it had something to do with feeling safe, after all, he classic black car had been their home ever since they've been little. For Sam it was the only home he remembered.

Tearing himself back into reality, he concentrated on the road. After he drove for over six hours, Sam insisted on taking over. Initially Dean was going to let him drive for a few hours, before he would take the wheel again, but then had fallen asleep. It wasn't until three hours ago that he woke, scolding the younger man for not waking him then making him stop and switch seats. Now they were only a mile away from the motel Bobby mentioned. The older Winchester was glad the place was on the main road, just outside of town, so he wouldn't have any problems finding it.

A few minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of the South Town Motor Inn. It wasn't difficult to find the room Bobby had rented, as his truck was the only vehicle there. Parking right beside it, Dean shut the engine off and gently shook Sam's shoulder.

"Dude, time to wake up, we're here!"

For a moment the younger Winchester looked around with confusion, "Here where?"

Dean laughed at the expression on his face, making him look like he was eight years old. "At the motel, princess! Lets get our stuff and find out what Bobby has to say."

After rubbing his eyes for a moment Sam got out of the car. Still sleep drunken, he walked towards the door, running into it, when he misjudged the distance. Rubbing his forehead, where it connected, he found himself face to face with Bobby Singer.

"How come you never taught your brother that using his fist for knocking is a lot less painful than using his head?" The older man chuckled, before he pulled Sam into his embrace, "Good to see you, kid! Now you better come in and sit down before you hid that noggin of yours again."

Dean followed with both their duffels, placing them on the floor as soon as he entered. Locking the door behind him, he walked over to his brother, who by now was sitting in one of the beds, still rubbing his head.

"Here, let me see that!" He demanded, trying to pry Sam's hand away from his forehead.

"It's fine!" The younger man insisted, but finally relented to the "I'll determine that" look Dean gave him.

Seeing the discolored area, which already started to raise slightly, he turned to the salvage yard owner, "Got some ice?"

The older man disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a hand towel, he went over to the table and reached into a plastic container to retrieve several ice cubes. Wrapping them into the towel, he handed them to Dean.

"Why don't you scoot back and lie down!" The older brother suggested, guiding his compliant sibling into a horizontal position, then pressing the make shift icepack against the bruised area. "Hold on to this and rest for a while. I'll get some food and then we can talk."

The mumbled "kay" coming from Sam made Dean grin, poor kid was obviously completely exhausted to not even give instructions for the kind of food he wanted.

"Why don't you sit down and go over my notes, while I get the food." Bobby suggested, "Any change in your food choices?"

"Nah, you know me!"

"Didn't think so!" The older man smiled, would be a cold day in hell, before Dean Winchester would go for anything less then red meat in general and greasy burgers in particular.

SN SN SN SN SN

Three hours later the tree men were finally talking about the hunt. After Bobby had come back with the food, Dean had tried to wake his brother, but found the younger man didn't even stir. The grizzled hunter had anticipating this would happen and had brought back soup that could be reheated and a salad with the dressing on the side. Now they sat around the table, while Bobby briefed them on what was going on.

"Six people have been killed and two injured in three different tornadoes during the last two weeks."

"Wait a second." Dean interrupted, "Tornadoes, how is that our kind of thing?"

"Shut up and you'll see." The hunter warned, yet the smirk on his face belied his words, "These tornadoes happen at random and on beautiful, sunny days, when there is no wind and hardly a cloud in the sky."

"But how is that possible?" Sam straightened up in his chair and leant forward.

"I haven't figured that out yet, but it's clear something supernatural is involved here." Bobby answered his question.

"Who are the victims? Are they connected in any way?" Dean inquired.

"Not that I can see. The first people involved were a young couple camping in the Black Hills. The husband barely survived and is still not out of the woods, but from what the police report says, he was able to tell them the cyclone came out of nowhere and was only about nine feet wide. It engulfed them and he lost consciousness. When he woke up, both he and his wife were lying side by side on their backs. It was a miracle he survived and probably only because he wore a swim vest, which must have padded him and protected him from worse injuries. They had planned to go fishing and because he wasn't a good swimmer, his wife insisted he would wear one."

"Guess I'll never make jokes again, about people wearing those ridiculous looking things." Dean grinned.

"The second time it happened to a group of six men hiking in an area about ten miles east. The same thing happened to them. Because they were walking in two groups, three of them managed to get away unscathed, while one of the men in the other group was just a little behind and got thrown against a tree rather than sucked in. The other two weren't so and died, again there bodies lying side by side on their backs after the tornado disappeared."

"Okay, so this enough for me to proof this isn't natural. I mean the weather conditions are completely wrong and who ever heard of a tornado this small? And if that wasn't enough, the victims being laid out like that, is just not something that would happen naturally." The older Winchester announced.

"What about the last case?" Sam wondered, almost afraid to ask.

"A family of four, the mother didn't get hurt, but the father, a ten year old daughter and an eight year old son were killed instantly. The mother collapsed after witnessing her family die and had a breakdown later in the hospital. She just was released this morning and is now staying with her sister here in town."

"Have you talked to her or any of the men in the other group?" Seeing the older man shake his head, Dean added, "Guess we should do that then!"

"Guess so." Sam replied, not really enthusiastic. Although he had done it many times before, he never enjoyed making people, who just lost their loved ones relive the tragedy. Yet he knew it was necessary, if they wanted to prevent further deaths.

SN SN SN SN SN

"Excuse me…" Sam looked at the mid-thirties red-headed woman, who opened the door he just had knocked on, "I hope we're not disturbing you, but we were told we would find Mrs. Sandra Johnson here?"

The smile on the woman's face turned to something more like a frown, "What do you want from my sister? If you are with the press, you better leave right now; she has been through enough lately."

Dean, who was standing beside his brother, watched how the younger man's expression instantly changed into one of pained compassion. He'd seen it so many times in the past and yet it astounded him again and again, how Sam could emphasize with others and make an immediate connection.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Dr. Sam Mullin and this is my partner Dr. Dean Tomann, we are scientists with the NOAA, or to be more specific the NWS, the National Weather Service." He paused to let the information sink in, before continuing, "Ma'am, I know this is a really bad time, but the weather phenomenon that killed your sister's family has killed several other people. We've never seen anything like it in the past and are desperate to find a way to prevent further deaths. We were hoping that maybe your sister could…?"

He didn't finish the sentence, yet he didn't have to, as the woman stepped slightly to the side, "Why don't you come in and have a seat. I will ask my sister, if she is up to talking to you. I can't promise you though that she will."

"That is perfectly alright. We appreciate the effort, Mrs…"

"Tammy Gifford." She answered, before leaving the room to go upstairs.

She returned a few minutes later with a dark blond woman a few years her junior following her down the stairs. There was no doubt of the relationship between the two of them, as other then the hair color, they looked very similar, the only other difference immediately apparent was Tammy being about half a head taller than Sandra.

The younger Winchester made a start by stepping up to her, "Mrs. Johnson, I'm so sorry for what happened to your family. I know there is nothing that will ever make up for it." Pausing, he glanced over at his brother, "My college and I wish this could wait, but we really are trying to save lives."

"I know." Her voice was slightly shaky and subdued, as she tried to continue without breaking down, "Please, have a seat."

She pointed at the group of chairs to their right, giving herself a moment to regain control. As soon as everyone had taken a seat, she said, "So, what can I do to help?"

"We already know what happened during and after the tornado, what we really would like to know is, if there is anything strange you noticed just prior to it?" For the first time Dean spoke up, feeling he needed to make a contribution to be believable.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head, "No, nothing, other that it was really quiet."

It was clear that trying to recall the tragedy was getting to her as she squeezed her fists so tight, her knuckles turned white.

"I know this is incredibly difficult, but was there anything else, except the silence. Maybe some animals that behaved strange or noises?"

"I think this is enough, my sister needs to rest. If you leave your number, I make sure I call you if she remembers anything else." Tammy stood up, her face anxious with worry at the sudden paleness of her sibling.

"Sure, let me…"

"No, it's alright!" The younger woman interrupted the older Winchester, then turned towards Sam, "Actually there is something I remember. There was this red tailed hawk that showed up right before and landed on a branch. I remember, because he was unusually large and almost seemed like he was watching us. He flew away into the forest, right into the direction from which the twister came only a few seconds later. I guess they say animals have a special sense for strange occurrences…" She mused.

"You're right." Sam agreed, "Maybe this is something that could help us."

Getting up, he moved closer and took her much smaller hand into his large one, "I promise you, we will do whatever we can to prevent this from happening again. I know that's not enough, but maybe it will help a little." He locked eyes with her, before turning and walking out.

Slightly surprised, Dean scrambled out of his own seat and said his good-bye, then ran after his brother, who already had taken up his seat in the passenger seat of the Impala.

SN SN SN SN SN

The ride back to the motel had been spent in silence. As soon as Dean had entered the classic black car, he had realized his brother needed a moment to collect himself. It had been clear from the expression on his face that the conversation with Sandra Johnson had gotten to him. After Jessica it had probably hit too close to home for the younger man. For a moment Dean had wanted to kick himself, but what was done was done and couldn't be changed. So he had decided to give Sam the time he needed.

He was glad he did, as it seemed to have worked. By the time the two of them entered the motel room it appeared like Sam found his balance once again. Sitting down he watched Bobby, who was talking on his cell phone, with impatience, eager to exchange notes with the older hunter.

After what seemed like forever, the salvage yard owner finally ended the conversation with an, "Okie dokie", making Dean break out in a laugh and even Sam couldn't suppress a grin.

"Idjits!" The grizzled hunter mumbled, choosing to ignore their antics and instead asking, "So what did you get?"

Recalling all the details of their conversation with Mrs. Johnson for the other man, both of the younger hunters then listened to Bobby telling them about his talk with the three uninjured hikers.

Hardly letting him finish his tale, Dean jumped up, exclaiming with more than just a little excitement, "This has to be it! This has to be something we can use!"

"What do you mean?" Sam looked at him without understanding.

"Don't you get it? All three of the men said they saw an extremely large falcon watch them and then fly away into the direction, where the whirlwind came from just a moment later and…"

"…Mrs. Johnson said the same happened to them, only the bird was an unusually large red-tailed hawk." Sam completed his sentence.

Bobby, who had listened closely, now questioned, "Have you ever heard of anything like this happening before? Because I sure haven't."

"Neither have I." Sam confessed, "But it's a start. Between the three of us, we are bound to dig something up."

"Alright then, where do we start?" Dean questioned.

"The library…" Sam instantly perked up, making his older brother smirk. The kid still was the same geek he had been all his life. Show him a library and he could spend weeks in it and not even miss eating. It would seem that a place like Stanford, with all its libraries and books, would have exhausted his need for knowledge, yet maybe there were things that never changed and maybe never should, his little brother being a hopeless book worm being one of them.

"Alright, I'll surf the net for some info then." Dean offered.

"Guess that leaves me with the city archives, maybe there is something on this kind of thing happening before. I know it's a long shot, but worth the try." The oldest hunter announced, glad that Dean had taking over the net surfing. Although he was quite proficient at it, he had never taking a liking to it and still preferred the old fashioned methods whenever possible.

Separating, they agreed to meet up again in three hours and call it a day, if neither of them had found anything by then and retry early the next morning.

SN SN SN SN SN

It was a few minutes after nine o'clock, when the youngest Winchester walked down the steps of the library. It turned out that although small, there were some valuable resources on the history of the area to be found in the dusty place. A satisfied smile on his face, Sam tucked the three books he was carrying securely under his right arm. He had received a call from Dean only a few minutes ago, telling him the older man was on his way to pick up Bobby from the archives, which were located several blocks from the library and then would come get him, so they could grab dinner before returning to the motel.

Standing on the sidewalk, Sam was amazed by the relatively heavy traffic still going through town at this late hour. Sure, Rapid City was a tourist destination, yet it was still a little early in the year for this to start up, as it was only late April. Then again, what did he really know about tourism, other than it was a seven letter word. Vacations hadn't really been on their schedule growing up.

The young man was torn out of his thoughts by a fearful, high pitched scream, "Sammy…"

Turning into the direction, he saw young girl of maybe nine or ten standing about fifteen yards away from him, holding the torn end of a leash in her hand. At the same time he saw an energetic looking dog of maybe fifty pounds storm toward him, just to swerve right in front of him and run into the heavy traffic. Without thinking Sam ran after the animal, catching it by the collar and at the last second pulling it out of the path of an oncoming car.

Finding himself thrown off balance by his sudden pulling back and his feet still in the momentum of running forward, the tall hunter found himself settling down hard onto the asphalt, the dog, who once again changed directions, this time back towards its owner, taking him down all the way until his head hit the ground. Dazed, yet still holding on tightly to the collar, he heard breaks screeching and a door slamming, at the same time as two voices almost in unison called out, "Sammy…!"

The next moment he was pulled up to an almost sitting position and supported by a strong arm, while a hand ran over the back of his head.

"No blood…" Dean stated, his voice still a little shaky from the view he just experienced, "What in the world, Sammy? Running after a dog? Without looking? Didn't I teach you better?"

Still woozy, Sam attempted to focus on his brother's face, but suddenly found a black and tan blur in front of him, which was followed by something large, pink and wet swiping all over his face, almost making him fall back again, if it wouldn't have been for Dean's strong arm continuing to hold him up.

"Woah, woah, buddy…" One hand still on the collar, he put his other into the dog's fur and dragged it away from his face. His vision clearing, he saw for the first time that he was not dealing with a fully grown animal, but rather with a puppy.

"Sammy!" Still high pitched, but stern this time, the voice startled both of the Winchester and made them look up at the little girl, who was standing beside them with an angry look at her face, "How many times have I told you that you can't run away. See what you did? You broke the leash and almost got killed, if it wasn't for the nice young man here."

She looked at Sam and suddenly blushed, "I'm sorry mister, Sammy really is a good dog, but she is just a puppy and sometimes I just can't hold her back."

"I know, same thing happens with my Sammy!" Dean couldn't help but respond, leaving the girl with confused look on her face, "Sorry, his name is Sammy too." He explained.

"It's Sam." The younger man corrected with a scowl.

Still holding on to the pup, not intending to let go until he knew the animal couldn't run away anymore, he started to stand, using his brother's shoulder as leverage. Still he wouldn't have made it, if Dean wouldn't have stood at the same time and held on to his arm.

"You alright kiddo?" The older brother asked, concern breaking through his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, just a little dizzy, nothing I can't handle." Looking over at Bobby, who was standing back a few yards to stay out of the way, yet close enough to help, if needed, he said, "There should be some rope in the back seat…?"

While the old hunter made his way to the car, Sam started to lead the dog back onto the sidewalk, his brother staying close by his side, making sure he wouldn't fall. Kneeling, he unhooked what was left of the leash and took the rope out of the junk man's hand, as soon as he arrived with it. Securing it to the collar with a knot, he made a loop on the other end, then pulled a soft cloth out of his pocket and wrapped it around the loop.

"She really is a pretty dog." He noted, looking at the dog, obviously a shepherd mix with very vivid colors, who now was making some strange rooing sound at him, while wagging her tail.

"Yes, she is a German Shepherd/Basenji mix." She explained, before adding in a very important voice, "You know Basenjis are African herding dogs and they don't bark they just talk. But Sammy here, she does bark too, because she is half Shepherd."

Sam smiled at her, remembering how much he wanted a puppy, when he was her age. Out loud he asked, "How far from here do you live?"

"Just over there, see the diner?" She pointed at one of the buildings just down the road, "It belongs to my mom and dad."

"Great, here you go." He handed her the make-shift leash, "This will hold Sammy for a while. But I will walk you there, just to be on the safe side."

Standing up again, this time much surer on his feet, he started to walk beside her, the dog staying by his side, like she knew he just had saved her life.

"Thanks again, mister…" She said, suddenly a little shy.

"Just call me Sam."

A big smile appeared on her face, "So your name really is Sammy!"

"Yeah, but for Sammy's sake here…" He pointed at the puppy, whose large brown eyes were excitedly looking at him, "…you better call me Sam."

"I understand, Sam." She winked at him, "My name is Patricia, but I let you call me Patty, that's what my parents and friends call me."

"Thanks Patty, now we better go and take Sammy back to your parents before they get worried." He smiled, as he felt her small hand slight into his larger one.

Dean smirked as he saw the gesture then nodded at Bobby, "Why don't you park the car? I follow Sammy, wouldn't want anything else to happen. We might as well eat right there."

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The three men returned to the motel room two hours later with there bellies stuffed and their wallets as filled as they were before. Mr. and Mrs. Sunderman, Patty's parents had refused to take any of their money and even insisted they would take home one of Mrs. Sunderman's delicious caramel apple pie, an offer that especially Dean hadn't been able to refuse.

After Patty had gone to the back room, her mother had confided in them, how much it meant to the family that Sam had saved "Sammy" the mutt. The little girl had been very close to her grandfather and had spent a lot of time with him. After the old man had unexpectedly died of a heart attack nine month ago, Tammy's world had been torn apart. That had changed, when the neighbor's dog had a litter of puppies. She had instantly taken to the runt of the litter, a sickly little pup, who had little to no change of survival, as its siblings wouldn't even let her suckle. With the advise of one of the local vets, the little girl had taken on the task of feeding the pup every two hours and under her loving hand and with a little help from mom, who very fast realized that this was exactly what her daughter needed, the runt had grown into a beautiful and very lively puppy.

The story had touched all of them and although Dean would never admit it, had even brought tears to their eyes. Although still a little upset about Sam acting without thinking, he was glad his brother had been able to save the pet. With the younger man always worrying about causing death and destruction, this was just what he needed.

Thinking about it now, Dean had to confess that getting a meal and a pie out of the deal wasn't anything to complain about either.

TBC

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_I used my dog Sugar in this story. She was a good girl, but I had to put her to sleep last April. She was almost 14 and had been sick for a couple years. Please let me know how you like this one. The story is complete and I will post part 2 and 3 soon. Hugs, Vonnie_


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay, here is Chapter 2. Enjoy!_

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When Dean awoke the next morning, the sun had already risen for several hours and Bobby was just returning with breakfast in his hand. Getting out of bed, he looked over to his brother, who had drawn the short straw and had slept on the pull out couch and now was now sitting on it, studying one of the books he had brought back from the library, while the other two were lying around with multiple pieces of papers sticking out of them.

"Dude, did you sleep at all?" The older brother looked at his sibling with a scowl.

"Couple hours or so…" The younger man responded, "Woke up and couldn't sleep anymore, so I thought I might as well use the time productively."

"Did you at least find anything?"

"I think I'm onto something, but I have to check a few more details, before I can be sure."

Dean smiled; this was his Sammy, always the geek, always checking facts. That's what made his brother's research always better than his or even their dad's.

"Alright, why don't you boys come and eat, you can go over this later."

Sam was about to give Bobby one of his 'I'm not hungry' speeches, but thought better of it, when he saw the look the older hunter gave him, still he couldn't resist taking the book with him, reading while he dug into his scrambled eggs and bacon, hardly tasting any of it in his eagerness to get all the details together. He didn't even look to pick up his coffee cup, taking a large gulp. Hardly able to turn his head in time, he spewed the sickly sweet liquid back out, before desperately looking for the real thing.

It was Bobby, who saved him by handing him the cup, which he drank down in two big swallows, while Dean almost fell off his chair laughing.

"Ewe, yak…" Still sputtering, the young man grabbed his brother's cup off the table, turning away and drinking it before Dean had a chance to retrieve it.

"Hey, why'd you do that?" The older Winchester protested.

"That's for putting the syrup where my coffee was supposed to be!" Sam grinned, satisfied with his siblings response.

"Yeah well, that's what you get for sticking your face in books and not looking." Dean grinned.

"Idjits!" Bobby used both hands to slap each of them on the back of their heads, but couldn't hide the big grin on his face. Taking their cups, he turned and walked over to the coffeemaker, refilling them with more of the steamy hot brew.

Sam took his cup and settled down on the couch again, loosing himself in his research material once again. The other two men continued eating their breakfast, keeping the conversation at a quiet level, as to not disturb the younger man, both of them anxiously awaiting the results of his investigation.

Their patience was rewarded twenty minutes later, when the young hunter put the book he was holding down and looked at them.

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure now that what we are dealing with is a Rarog or Zar Ptak, depending of which Slavic country you are from. Most stories though are from Poland."

Dean turned to Bobby, hoping the elder hunter had heard of this creature before, yet the other man just shrugged his shoulders.

"You sure of this? I mean, wouldn't this be a little far from its home country? And I've never heard of a Polish settlement in this area." The salvage yard owner questioned.

"Doesn't have to be a settlement you know, a single person or a family could bring an entity with them."

"Gotta give you right there, boy!" Bobby agreed, "Now, what is that thing anyway?"

"Okay, so the rarog is a demon of the wind. It usually shows itself as a hawk, falcon or dwarf…"

"A dwarf?" Dean interrupted, "Dude, can't be much of a demon, if he shows himself as one of those little creeps."

"You obviously never listened to the legends and myths about dwarves? They have always been the keeper of the riches and the secret weapon that helped turn the battle around and win the war." His brother educated him

"Dude, you're such a geek!"

"You're getting too hung up on the dwarf thing here, Dean. Didn't you hear your brother say the creature also shows itself as a falcon or hawk?" Bobby felt the need to side with the younger Winchester.

"Exactly, that's what made me look into this in the first place." Sam explained then went on, "So the legend says that the rarog would turn into a whirlwind and cause destruction to the lives and property of its enemies."

"Is there anything that can stop it?" Dean wondered. The elder Winchester was starting to believe his brother might be on the right track.

Sam's troubled expression gave away what he was going to reveal, before he even started to talk.

"There are a few ways that are supposed to work, but none has been proven. One is to kneel down in front of the cyclone and ask it for forgiveness. Another way is to throw a knife into the twister and it will kill it. And in Russia they actually threw a looped belt into it, because it was supposed to choke it."

"Yeah, sounds really promising!" Dean commented sarcastically.

"I know, but that was all I could find." The younger man apologized.

"Its okay kiddo, you did great, after all, you found more than Bobby and me." Dean put his hand on his shoulder, "We just have to do some onsite research."

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Armed with knifes and looped belts the three men arrived five hours later at the first site they were going to investigate. It was the place where the four hikers had been hit. It had been a one hour drive and then a four hour hike through the wooded hills until they got to a large clearing.

"I hate camping!" Dean complained.

"We are not here to camp, in case you forgot." Sam reminded him, setting his back pack down in the grass.

Deciding now was as good a time to take a break as ever, the three men settled down on the ground and Bobby pulled out three bottles of water from the cooler bag he carried.

There was no conversation, as each of them was on high alert, their senses scouting the area surrounding them. Every noise, every movement was assessed, most of them immediately thrown out as harmless, while others were further evaluated to be laid aside also in the end.

"Okay, let's check this out, so we can get out of here and move to the next sight." Dean said at last.

His brother gave him a crooked look, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Because I think this site is a bust." The older man retorted.

"Idjit, what did you expect? The creature jumping out and yelling 'pudding' at you?" Bobby scolded him.

Grumbling something unintelligible, the elder Winchester retrieved one of the looped belts and knives from the pack beside him, before checking his weapon and walking off into the woods.

"Wait; let's talk about this for a second." The elder hunter's voice demanding attention and allowing for no back talk stopped Dean in his tracks and made him turn. "We have to coordinate our efforts here. We'll trail the path of the twister until it's beginning and then spread out, working our way back towards here. If one of us finds anything, he calls out, so that the others can find him."

Both Bobby and Sam followed Dean's example and pulled the needed 'weapons' out of the pack, then followed the firstborn Winchester.

The path of the tornado, although not very wide, was a scene of utter destruction. No tree had been left standing, all of them torn out with there roots, which had left large holes in the ground, making the walk difficult. Pieces of wood were strewn around, none of them longer than five or wider than one and a half feet, which was unusually just by the fact that most of the trees around here were hundreds of years old.

The path of annihilation ended as sudden as it started and it felt almost as if there was a wall surrounding it, as the bordering trees didn't even have the smallest branch broken off them. If there had been any doubt left in their minds that this was indeed of supernatural origin, it was taken away by this. No natural disaster could cause such a precise path of obliteration.

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Bobby and Dean arrived at the clearing at almost the exact same time. Neither of them had seen or heard anything unusual. Waiting for the third hunter to arrive, they suddenly heard the call of a bird of prey right above them. Looking up, they saw a falcon fly right above their heads and disappear into the forest.

Instinctively both ran toward the middle of the clearing and stopped, grabbing the belts and knifes, while turning towards the direction the bird vanished to. It took only a few seconds before the distinct rumbling noise of a tornado started up.

At the same time Sam appeared at the other side of the clearing, running towards his brother and Bobby. He just reached them, when the twister burst through the edge of the forest. Pulling back, Dean threw the knife towards the wind tunnel, as Bobby did the same with the belt, before both flung themselves down on the ground.

For just a second the cyclonic movement stopped and time appeared to a stand still. Then the action picked up once again, this time with more force than before. Realizing that neither the weapons nor the facedown position were effective, the two older men took the only option left and leapt to their feed. In running Dean tried to push his seemingly frozen to the spot younger brother ahead of him, just to find himself lifted of the ground and sucked into the center of the whirlwind. Debris hit his body in several spots, causing him to scream out in pain. It was the shortest scream ever, as the air was sucked from him, the rotation causing a vacuum that didn't allow for live to exist. Almost instantly his vision started to gray, continuing with blackness creeping in from around the edges and finally taking over, dragging him down into unconsciousness nearly as fast as the supernatural cyclone had sucked him in. It happened with such a speed, he neither had the change to give a thought to his friend, whose body was being tossed around just like his, nor did he see his brother.

Sam had felt like glued to the ground ever since he joined his brother and friend. Unable to move, he stared at the rotating cloud, watching the two other men take action without succeeding, like he was watching a movie. His eyes widened as he saw them being sucked in and tossed around like puppets, his body still not reacting to his need to interfere. It never dawned on him that by all laws of physics he should be joining them and yet he continued to be firmly rooted to the ground.

The cloud came closer, surrounding him now and yet he seemed to have no trouble breathing. He knew he should be scared, terrified at that and yet he felt no emotions at all, didn't even feel the debris hitting him. His arms moved up, his hands pointing towards the two unconscious men, their bodies seizing to move and becoming motionlessly suspended in the air. They slowly moved downward, until at last gently settling on the grass at the same pace as Sam dropped his arms. The strain of holding the others down started to get to him, as first his arms, then his body starting to shake. Blood began to drip from his nose, yet he still didn't notice any of it. Like in a trance he felt himself being lifted up, his arms stretching out to the sides as he rotated upwards. The bleeding from his nostrils increased to a steady trickle and a stabbing pain tore through his head, yet his unconscious effort was rewarded at last, when the power of the entity decreased. As the rotation and forward drive slowed, the height of the cloud decreased and the young man once again found his feet touching solid ground. There was a last howling of wind, before a hawk appeared seemingly out of nowhere and disappeared into the wooded area.

For a moment the youngest Winchester stood, facing his brother and Bobby, before his eyes rolled back and he fell in a heap to the ground.

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Bobby Singer had no idea what hit him. One moment he was on the ground facing the tornado, the next he found himself waking up in the soft grass, his body aching all over, like he was tossed around in a washing machine. As his vision cleared, he rolled to his side, unable to suppress a groan. Looking up, he saw Sam standing about twenty yards away. Blood was running from his nose over his lips and down his chin. His clothing was torn and he was bleeding from several other areas on his body. Swaying, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Sitting up, the elder hunter fought the dizziness that overcame him with the change of position. When the world finally quit spinning, he noticed Dean lying beside him. The older Winchester was still out cold, bleeding from a large gash on his left temple, his left arm lying in an odd angle with a bone protruding from right below his elbow. Noticing the wound was bleeding profusely, he opened his belt and tore it out of the loops of his pants, tightening it around the upper arm of the younger man and effectively creating a make shift tourniquet. Satisfied that the bleeding was stopped, he checked for a pulse. Finding it a little fast but steady, he started to stand up, just to be overcome by dizziness once more. This time though, it was combined with nausea and before he could prevent it, he was vomited up bile. When the retching finally ended, he sat for several minutes, too exhausted to move. The headache and shifting of his vision told him that he had at least a mild concussion, possibly worse. All he wanted to do was lie down and go back to sleep, yet he knew that besides this being the worst possible thing to do, it was also not possible, as he had to check on Sam.

Getting to his feet continued to prove difficult and the ground wouldn't quit moving, yet in the end he was able to stumble his way over to the other Winchester. Relieved he sat down, closing his eyes for a second, before starting to check the younger sibling. The wounds to his right arm and thigh, even though bleeding substantially, proved fairly minor, being easy treated with a couple pieces of torn cloth from his shirt wrapped around them. The bleeding from his nose was more worrisome, as it seemed to indicate a brain injury. Pushing up first the right then the left lid, the older man checked for pupil reaction, as well as it was possible without actually having a flashlight available. Finding them slightly sluggish, yet equal, he let out the breath he had been holding.

Before he was able to go on with his inspection Sam started to come around, his lids fluttering and finally opening, revealing hazy greenish-brown orbs. It surprised the older man again and again, how much the color to Sam's eyes varied, going from a greenish-blue to brown or almost green to their current color.

Before the grizzled hunter could react Sam sat up. Letting out a loud moan, he pressed both hands against his temples, his head falling against Bobby's shoulder, as the other man had immediately moved closer to prevent him from falling forward.

"Take it easy there, boy." He suggested.

"…happened?" Another moan accompanied the one worded question.

"We just got sucked up into a cyclone, remember?"

Slowly Sam straightened out, his face still distorted by pain, yet his eyes focused on the junk yard owner, "Oh yeah, the rarog." For a moment he seemed lost, like he was trying to remember something important. Just as the other man started to get worried, he moved again, this time stumbling to his feet. Swaying, he looked around until his eyes fell onto his brother.

"Dean..."

The scream did nothing for Bobby's headache and brought the nausea back on. Still he tried to catch up with the younger man, as he staggered like a drunk over to the still unconscious man. Although he tripped several times over his own feet, he made it all the way, while the older hunter found himself overcome by dizziness and kissing the ground after only half the way.

Too involved with checking his brother, Sam initially didn't notice the other hunter was no longer by his side. Only after he made sure Dean was okay, did he turn and saw Bobby lying in the grass.

"Darn it!" He scolded himself. He should have known something was wrong with his friend. Getting beat up by a whirlwind couldn't have left him unscathed. Once again he tried to get up, only to sink back to the ground as red hot pain wrapped around the right side of his chest, making it almost impossible to breath. Blackness started to creep in from the edges of his vision and only the long training his father had put him through helped him to overcome the darkness and gain control over the pain.

There was no question about the source of the pain and he knew the only thing that would make it better would be rest, yet this was a luxury he couldn't afford. Instead he pressed his arm against his chest and very carefully stood. Slowly he walked towards Bobby, for the first time feeling the moisture dripping from his nose and running down over his lips. Lifting his left arm, he wiped his sleeve over his face, looking with surprise at the redness that soaked the cotton fabric. As he let himself down to sit beside Bobby, he wondered what exactly happened that made the rarog disappear.

"You okay?" He questioned the older man.

"Yeah, got a pretty ugly concussion." Bobby answered, "Besides having a killer headache, I'm having trouble seeing straight and my stomach is practicing flip flops in there."

"Sorry for leaving you."

"Hey, no problem, I'm just glad you didn't pass out again, you didn't look very steady on your feet either." The older man voiced his concern.

"I'm fine!" Sam answered in usually Winchester fashion, "Think you can make it over to Dean, while I get one of the packs?"

"I think so!" The answer was just a little too shaky for the younger hunter to like it, so he stood first, his arm still wrapped around his chest, doing his best to stay in control, as more pain coursed through him. After a moment of standing still, he reached out and helped his friend up, hoping the older man didn't notice the deep slow breaths he was taking.

After assisting Bobby over to where his brother was still on the ground, he made his way to the back packs. He grabbed the first pack he got a hold off, finding that lifting it aggravated his injury and once again threatened him with blackness. Stubbornly he ground his teeth together and put the pack over his left shoulder. He needed to stay strong for Dean and Bobby now, there was no choice in the matter.

By the time he let the pack down beside the older hunter, he was sweat drenched and found it almost impossible to keep from crying out. He was glad that the older man was busy checking on Dean's head wound again and didn't notice the condition he was in. Pulling out a bottle of water he took a sip before pouring a small amount in the palm of his hand and wiping it over his face. Although not very cold, the liquid still felt refreshing.

"Here, drink something!" He held the bottle out to Bobby, who took it from him with a grateful expression.

Pulling the first aid kit out, he used disinfectant to clean the wound on the side of Dean's temple, then applied steri-strips to it. It didn't look too big and hopefully this would be enough. Using gauze to cover it, he secured it with tape, before turning his attention to open fracture. Also the bleeding had stopped thanks to the tourniquet, he knew he couldn't leave it like this or his brother would loose his arm.

"Think you're okay to help me set Dean's arm?" He asked.

"Have to be." The answer came without hesitation.

Using the bandage scissors, Sam cut the sleeve open all the way to the upper arm, then tore it off at the seam. He cringed at the sight of the fracture. Even with setting it there was a change Dean might loose his limb.

"You ready?"

Bobby, who had scooted in behind the older Winchester and picked up his upper body, was holding on tight the senseless young man's upper arm and nodded. Setting his booted foot down right beside his brother's chest to keep him from moving, Sam grabbed the lower arm and rotated it slightly, before pulling back in a strong smooth motion. When he was finished, he looked at the results, grateful that the bone was no longer protruding and that Dean had remained unconscious throughout the procedure.

After splinting and wrapping the area, he used a sling to immobilize the arm as well as possible. It wasn't much, yet it would have to do until they could get to a hospital. Pulling an extra sweater out of the pack, he rolled it up and laid it underneath Dean's head, after Bobby and he settled him back down on the ground. It was at that exact moment that the older Winchesters eyes finally opened.

"Glad to see you finally decided to join the world of the living again. I thought I would have to carry your ugly ass all the way back to the car." Sam tried to hide the actual worry he felt.

Even though the older man was just waking and in pain, he was able to see right through the mask. Only the fact that he wasn't really sure what happened und still felt woozy kept him from giving back a smart retort.

" you do'ng?" He asked instead, trying to swallow the frog that seemed to be stuck in his throat.

Finding a bottle pressed to his lips, he swallowed the slightly warm liquid flowing from it, relieved by how much better his throat felt just after the first swallow. Sucking in several more gulps, he was disappointed, when the bottle was removed.

"Hey…" He protested.

"You can have more in a moment. Don't want you to get sick." Sam smiled, "As for me, I'm a lot better than you are." It was so Dean to mother hen him the moment he woke.

"What happened?"

"The rarog happened. He tossed you and Bobby around like you were rag dolls."

"What about you?" The older man didn't miss the ragged appearance of his brother's clothes or the blood on them and his face.

"Told you I'm fine, you guys took the brunt of it. Bobby here got quite a concussion." He turned and let out a curse, as he noticed the older man had passed out again. "Shit!"

"What?" Dean tried to roll over, but instead let out a cry of pain.

"You have to lie still; your arm is busted up pretty bad." The younger man put his hand on his shoulder to prevent him from moving any further. Digging in the first aide kit, he pulled out a pill bottle and shook four of them into his brother's uninjured hand, "Here take this?"

"What is it? Hope nothing to knock me out?"

"Just regular strength Ibuprofen, I need you to be as clearheaded as possible." He assisted his brother to take another drink after Dean had popped the pills into his mouth, "You okay for a moment, I got to check on Bobby."

"Sure." Dean mumbled, hoping their older friend was alright.

Turning his head, he watched as Sam assessed the junk man, before gently trying to rouse him. It took him several attempts, but finally the elder hunter started to moan and his lids fluttered open.

"Damn concussion."

Sam exchanged a glance with his brother, noting that he wore a big grin on his face. Returning it, he looked back to their friend, "Good to see you're okay, or at least you will be. Need some Ibuprofen?"

"Guess I could use some, might keep the dwarf from hammering around in my head."

The younger hunter helped him take the medication, before saying, "Speaking about dwarves, I don't think our rarog is gone yet. We have to be prepared for it to return."

"What you have in mind?" Bobby asked.

"I think first of all we need to get in the middle of the clearing. We have no idea from which direction it is going to come and we are too close to the trees here."

"You're probably right there." The elder man agreed.

"Okay, so let's get moving then." Dean through in, ready to move, yet sorely disappointed, when the first move he made left him reeling with pain.

"You guys stay put. The other packs are already there, because that's were we left them. I'll get the sleeping bags out, so we all can get somewhat comfortable while we're waiting and make plans." The youngest Winchester ordered.

Making his way to standing proved difficult, as he felt two pairs of eyes on him and the pain from his right chest once again left him breathless. Grinding his teeth together, he retrieved the kit and put it back in the pack, before carefully picking it up and carrying it to the middle of the clearing.

The two other men could see clearly that their youngest wasn't as fine as he insisted on being. The way he moved, keeping his right arm pressed against his side, while slightly swaying, it was easy to see through his charade. The worst thing was both of them were well aware of the fact that they were in no condition to help him. The only thing they could hope was that Sam was only dealing with some bruised ribs, rather than some more severe injury.

It took the younger man almost half an hour to complete the simple task of getting out the sleeping bags and laying them out on the ground and moving the packs to the heads for support after removing all the necessary things. He had to rest several times, finally giving in and taking some pain meds himself. By now he was sure that the others had noticed his condition and when he returned to assist them, he had prepared an explanation. To his surprise neither Dean nor Bobby said a word.

Helping his brother move first, he was glad when the older Winchester was lying down again, as Dean was trying not to lean on him, but couldn't help doing so, being only halfway conscious by the time they made it. Although he wanted nothing more than to rest, Sam knew he would likely not be able to get back up any time soon, if he sat down now, so he made his way back and helped the older hunter move also.

After he settled and checked both men, making sure they were only sleeping, he allowed himself to sink down on his sleeping bag. Loosing all the adrenaline that kept him going until now, he gave in to unconsciousness, as pain and shortness of breath overwhelmed him. His last thought was of the rarog, who would have a field day with them, if it was going to return, while he was down.

TBC

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_Hope this was okay. Please let me know again. I really appreciate it. Hugs, Vonnie_


	3. Chapter 3

_Last chapter, thanks for your support and hope you still enjoy this._

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Sam came to abruptly, mostly because of the need to cough overwhelming him and causing him to shoot up. Instantly the pain in his chest flared up white hot, making him struggle for breath and almost pass out again.

"You're okay over there?" Dean's voice startled him, almost causing another flare up of pain.

Taking a few flat but steadying breaths, the younger man slowly turned, "Yeah, fine…" He gulped out, "Just choked."

"Sure, that's why you couldn't breath and looked like you would pass out any second." His brother retorted, knowing all too well Sam was not telling him the truth.

"So okay, I got some bruises and they hurt like hell, you should know that."

"You sure they are just bruises, after all, a second ago you where just fine?" Dean questioned him with obvious doubt in his voice.

"Let it go, I told you I'm fine." The younger man was clearly upset.

His brother had an answer ready for him, but was stopped by Bobby, "Dean, I'm sure Sam would tell us, if he needed help."

He gave the older Winchester a knowing look, trying to relay that they needed to keep an eye on their youngest, but that neither of them was in any shape to help a whole lot. It seemed like the other man got the message, as he settled back on his makeshift pillow, biting back a moan.

"And you boy…" The grizzled hunter nodded at Sam, "…don't overdo it!"

"I won't!" The younger man promised, "I'll just do what I have to."

"That's what I'm afraid off." Bobby grumbled, making sure Dean wouldn't hear him.

All three men suddenly looked at the forest, alerted by the scream of a bird of prey. Watching the hawk swoop down from a tree and fly in their direction, all three reached into their backpacks. Knowing that neither the belt nor the knife nor the bowing down worked, each grabbed his gun, while Sam also took out a flask of holy water. The youngest Winchester got up as fast as his injuries allowed, making it to his feet just as the bird landed right in front of him.

A cloud of dust, feathers and grass whirled up, momentarily robbing him of his sight and only covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve saved him from another coughing fit, which would have likely caused him to pass out. When the air cleared, the hawk had been replaced by a sturdy looking man of about four foot two inches. He had dark hair and piercing brown eyes, wearing tight black pants, a white ruffled shirt and a black vest over it. Most of his hair was covered by a funny looking white cap. If the situation wouldn't have been so serious, Sam would have actually let out a laugh, as the entity looked too comical to be taken seriously. Having experienced its power first hand though, the young hunter knew he had no reason to laugh right now.

"Masz upokorzony mnie! To musi być ukarany, będę najpierw obejrzeć w rodzinie umiera, zanim ja skończę!" The rarog screeched, "Zapłacisz za trudny do pokonania mnie. Raróg nikt nie walczy i dostaje od niej!" (1*)

Sam looked at him, having no idea what the little man was saying, but able to tell from the ton of his voice that it wasn't anything good. Hoping to stall, he said, "I have no idea what you're saying, maybe you should try speaking English."

Although he knew this was probably not the right thing to say, Dean couldn't help smirk. For his brother to keep his cool in this situation and even use sarcasm made him more than just a little proud.

"Jesteś jeszcze śmieją się ze mnie? Przygotuj się do zapłaty!"(2*)

With a loud scream the rarog lifted his arms in the air and disappeared into a cyclonic cloud, throwing Sam ten feet through the air, leaving him breathless and on the edge of unconsciousness.

As soon as the rarog turned cyclone and Sam flew through the air the two older men rolled flat onto their stomachs, ever so loaded with adrenaline that neither felt any pain and fired their weapons at the whirlwind. To their surprise the bullets seemed to make an impact, as the cloud started to rotate the other way and backed off. For a moment it wavered and diminished, yet when both of them ran out of bullets, it regained strength and size and was upon them before either reloaded.

Feeling the wind upon them, there was no doubt in their minds that this was going to be it. There was no escape and they had been more than lucky to survive the first time. Ready to face death, they were surprised when the tornado continued to rotate, yet no longer moved forward. Instead it was drawn away from them, seemingly caught by an unknown force. Moving up and down, rotating in either direction, the cloud roared. After several minutes it slowed down and the rarog, one again in the form of the dwarf, reappeared. Huffing, his face red with anger, he pointed at the figure standing five feet away.

Only now the two hunters could see Sam, who until now had been hidden behind the rotating cloud. Both of his hands were pointed at the rarog, his eyes wide open and his face grayish colored. Blood was running from his nose again and he didn't seemed to be aware of anything other than the entity.

Dean paled at the sight of his brother, for a moment paralyzed by fear. It was Bobby, who saved the moment with his immediate reaction. Finishing reloading his gun, he pointed and emptied it into the supernatural being. The moment his weapon was empty two things happened at once. First the rarog suddenly exploded into dust, which slowly rained down onto grass. Second Sam's arms dropped, his eyes rolled upwards and he crumbled to the ground.

The first filled both men with relief, the second made them gasp with worry. Not even thinking about what just happened, Bobby stood up. Fighting the dizziness that threatened to pull him under, he put his hands on his thighs for balance.

"Stay here, I'll bring him over here." He commanded, knowing Dean would only worsen his already bleeding arm again.

Reluctantly the older brother nodded, watching with worry as his friend stumbled over to where Sam had fallen.

"He's breathing." The older man called out, knowing well that he needed to keep the other hunter informed, if he wanted him to stay put. Continuing his assessment, he noted that the unconscious man's heartbeat was slightly unsteady and too fast. The nose bleed really worried him, as it seemed like Sam was loosing a lot of blood at a fast rate. It was only good the young man had ended up on his side, as it prevented him from choking on the blood running down his throat.

This wasn't gonna be easy or pretty, yet Bobby used the only method making it possible for him to move the youngest Winchester. Rolling him to his back and lifting his upper body, he held on to the back of his shirt collar. Thankful for adrenaline, he stood and dragged the tall kid over to their camp, where Dean already had put two of the packs on top of each other. Leaning Sam against them, the experienced hunter collapsed, fighting the pain and spinning in his head, while not trying to give in to the darkness trying to take over. The boys needed him now.

Taking several deep breaths, he finally felt his vision clear and the pain let up a bit. Sitting up, he realized Dean was already all over his brother in attempting to wake him.

"Bobby, he's not responding at all." The older Winchester's face had grown even paler than before, "And the bleeding won't stop either."

"Let me check him." The elder hunter instructed him, before retrieving a chemical ice pack from the first aid kit. Breaking the chemical inside, he handed it to Dean, "Why don't you sit beside him and hold this against his neck. Hopefully it will slow the bleeding down."

Bobby thoroughly assessed the injured hunter. After checking his pupils, he took the time to moisten some gauze and wipe some of the blood from below his nose and mouth. Happy that the bleeding seemed to have slowed to a trickle, he used some more gauze and stuffed it up his nostrils. Moving on to lift Sam's shirt up, he gasped slightly at the bruising on the right side of his chest and abdomen.

"Guess he wasn't lying about having some bruises, just seems he left out the size of them."

Dean bent forward and trying to get a better look at what his friend was talking about, "Damn it Sammy!" He groaned.

"I think some of this just happened when the rarog tossed him this time. The lower part of it looks different, like it just coming through. What worries me is the swelling." He palpated the area, getting an instantaneous response from the unconscious young man, he moaned and moved to the side, almost sliding of the back pack, if it wouldn't have been for Bobby grabbing hold of his arm at the last moment and repositioning him.

"This is not good at all, looks like he may have some internal injuries there, possibly to his liver. There are definitely several broken ribs there." The salvage yard man shook his head, why did things always have to go so wrong?

Only now did he notice the unusual silence from Dean. The older brother's head was lying on Sam's shoulder, his body heavily leaning against the younger man. It was obvious he was out cold again and the blood seeping through the sling told Bobby the reason why.

Cursing, the older man moved Dean's pack and laid the young hunter down, before removing the sling and bandage. Although not visible, the bones had moved and caused the wound to bleed again. There was no way Bobby would be able to realign the fracture once again without help. Instead he applied several dressings, putting on enough pressure when wrapping the limb again to stop the bleeding without inhibiting the circulation. He just hoped it would be enough.

Even though he knew he was not likely to get a connection out her, he pulled his cell out and turned it on. Just like expected, there wasn't even one bar visible. Frustrated he tucked it away. This was not good at all. All three of them were injured, Sam possibly live threatening. And who knew what was going on in his freaky head after whatever mojo he used to hold the rarog down. The nose bleed was very clearly indicating something was very wrong.

Looking up at the sky, he saw that darkness was approaching fast. There was no way he could leave the boys by themselves now, injured and unprotected as they were. He really struggled with the decision, as it could mean the difference between life and death for Sam, but if he left now, it would almost certainly mean death for both of them. The other reason he needed to wait was his own condition. Hopefully a night of rest would help enough, so he wouldn't pass out during his walk.

Right now he needed to gather some wood and make a fire to keep the local wild life away. At least it would be an easy task, as the debris the cyclone had left behind, was all around them and small enough to be easy to gather. In the end the actual task proved anything but easy, as pain and blurred vision made it difficult for him to see and the dizziness made him stumble, a few times even fall. At last he managed to get a nice fire going and have enough wood on hand so he wouldn't have to collect any more during the night.

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The night went by way too slow for the grizzled hunter. He stayed awake to keep the fire going. It was cool and the fire help keep them warm and most of all repelled any of the predators living in the forest. And from the howling and growling going on all around him, Bobby was sure there were a lot of them.

Every thirty minutes he checked on the boys. Dean woke several times, but had developed a fever and started to talk more and more out of his head the longer the night went on. The older man was glad; he at least took the water he offered him.

Sam on the other hand had yet to regain consciousness. He hadn't even stirred something that really worried the experienced hunter. His breathing was labored and the bruised areas hot and hard to touch and there was not a thing Bobby could do to help, except of praying for morning to come and hope the internal bleeding was slow and self-contained.

As dawn drew closer, the hunter experienced increasingly more difficulty keeping his focus, his vision becoming more and more blurred and his headache picking up to an almost unbearable level. As the first rays of the rising sun broke through the trees his determination was no longer enough and overcome by dizziness and pain, he fell back were he was sitting, unconscious before his head hit the ground.

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Dean opened his eyes to a white ceiling. For a few moments he just stared at it, confused by what happened. He wasn't sure what was going on, yet he knew he hadn't been here when he went to sleep. Moving slightly to look around, a subtle, but unmistakable pain in his right arm suddenly brought all the memories streaming back. The rarog attacked them and Sam used some freaky power to control it. Bobby was hurt and Sam…

"Sam…" Dean made it halfway to sitting before he sank back into the pillow.

"Good to see you awake son!" The scruffy face leaning over him wore a smile, yet it was lined with worry.

Finding a straw pushed against his lips, he started to suck the cool liquid greedily, disappointed, when the straw was pulled away far too soon.

"You are hurt." It wasn't a question.

"Just a concussion." Bobby responded, "I'm much better now, still got a headache, but it takes more than a rarog to give me any lasting damage. They let me out yesterday."

Taking in the dark smudges under the older man's eyes, the firstborn Winchester questioned, "How long was I out?"

"Four days, they had to fix your arm and you had a bad infection, were running a pretty high fever till yesterday."

Looking around the room, Dean noticed that the other bed was unoccupied.

"Where is Sam?"

The older man looked away, yet couldn't suppress a sigh.

"Bobby, where is Sam? How bad is he?" Dean continued to pry.

Turning back again, Bobby still didn't make eye contact, when he finally answered, "He didn't make it!"

For a long moment Dean just stared at him, "What do you mean, he didn't make it?"

"Dean, your brother is dead, they tried everything to save him, but his injuries were too severe." The older hunter said tonelessly.

Again there was a heavy silence, before the younger man said, "No, no, absolutely impossible. Sam can't be dead, I would know, would feel it and I don't feel anything. He can't be dead, it is not possible. He is not dead; it's all a mistake…"

"Dean, you need to settle down." Bobby put his hands on his friend's shoulders, when he saw the younger hunter was getting agitated. It was obvious that the young man was adrenaline driven and didn't feel any pain in his arm, yet that wouldn't prevent him from doing damage to him, "I know this is difficult, but Sam wouldn't want you to hurt yourself again."

"You don't understand Bobby, he can't be dead. I promised to protect him, to take care of him. He can't be dead…"

Dean never heart the nurse come into the room, nor did he see her connect a syringe to his IV line and push a clear liquid into it. As a matter of fact, he was asleep before he knew what hit him.

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It took another four days before the oldest Winchester was discharged from the hospital. Bobby had expected him to grieve, to withdraw and to not make progress in his recovery, to not eat or even to joke and not talk about Sam. Instead he pushed himself, ate like there was no tomorrow and kept insisting that his brother couldn't be dead. And nothing or nobody was able to deter him from that belief.

Even Bobby telling him that he had seen Sam's body and released it to one of the local funeral homes for safe keeping, couldn't convince the young hunter. He even questioned, why the older hunter would do such a thing, but was finally appeased, as the other man explained it would be easier to remove the body from there, than from the hospital morgue, where always someone was around.

As they were waiting for the discharge papers, Bobby looked at his friend with concern. He was starting to fear for the boy's sanity and what he had to tell him now, would in no way make it better. Yet there was no way around it, he would find out as soon as they went to the funeral home to retrieve Sam's body anyway. It was better he was prepared for what he was going to find.

"Dean, there is something you need to know." He waited for the younger man to look at him, before he continued, "They did brain surgery on Sam, trying to save his life. For that they had to shave his head and there is also severe swelling and bruising to his face."

"I told you it couldn't be him." Dean triumphed.

"There aren't a lot of people around that are Sam's size. I'm sure it was him; also the hospital had the ID bracelet on him." Bobby assured him.

They were interrupted by the nurse bringing in the discharge instruction. Listening to her, but not really paying attention, Dean signed the paper in the end, anxious to leave. Getting up from the bed to walk out, he found his way blocked by the nurse now armed with a wheel chair. Trying to get by her, he found himself turned and pushed down into the seat by his friend.

"Take the ride, you know they have to, its policy." Bobby ordered.

Dean scowled but stayed quiet, for once deciding it wasn't worth it. It felt strange being pushed in a chair along the long corridor. It almost made him feel paranoid and ready to run. Stopping at the nurse's station, the nurse went in to drop off the papers.

"You know, what day it is today?" Dean looked up at the older man standing beside him.

Bobby only nodded, knowing if he would try to talk he would quite possibly loose his composure. There was no way he would ever forget, what day it was.

Feeling the chair move on again, Dean's attention was suddenly pulled towards a room to the right. The door was closed, but the sound of the voices coming from inside was loud and clear. One of them sounded extremely irate and had a quality to it, which the older Winchester would have been able to pick out of a crowd of thousands.

Almost jumping out of the wheel chair, he scrambled for the door and pushed it open, ignoring the calls of his friend and the nurse. For a moment he stood in the doorway, watching a very upset and angry giant little brother trying to fight a doctor and several nurses off.

"Let him go!" Dean demanded, walking towards the bed.

"Sir, you can't be in here." One of the nurses tried to block his way.

He pushed her aside, like she didn't even exist, his eyes solely focused on his Sam.

Sam had stopped his struggle the moment he heard his brother's voice. Sitting in the bed, his hazels stared at Dean with moisture collecting in them.

"Dean…" It was all he needed to say, to tell his the older brother more than long sentences could have.

No longer able to hold back, the firstborn Winchester sat down on the bed and wrapped his uninjured arm around his little brother. Feeling the other's arms embrace him also, he let out a sob.

"They told me you died, but I never believed it!"

There was no response from Sam, at least no spoken one, instead Dean felt the arms wrapped around him tighten just enough for him to feel it, yet not enough to hurt his arm. Leave it to his brother to think of his injury even at a moment like this.

Bobby had been standing in the door observing the scene unfold from a distance. Although he hadn't allowed his grief to show, trying to keep up appearances for Dean and stay positive, in reality he had been broken. To see the youngest Winchester alive, watching the brothers hug brought tears to his eyes. Screw John Winchester, these were his boys as much, maybe even more.

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Bobby Singer was a tough hunter, who swore he never let anyone get as close to him as his wife had been. Yet the moment John Winchester walked into his life, he had broken the oath he had made. Sure, he tried to refuse, tried to push those two wide eyed boys away, yet somehow they wouldn't believe his harsh exterior and continued to wiggle there ways through his thick skin right into the middle of his heart. Once in there, they refused to ever leave again.

Over the years he had seen those boys get hurt, both emotionally and physically and he had taken care of them as well as he had been able to. He had also sworn that no one would get away with hurting them. So after seeing the pain that the carelessness of some hospital employee had caused Dean, he was determined to find out what happened and make sure this would never happen again.

It didn't take the experienced hunter long to find the person he needed to talk to and push all the right buttons. It turned out that just before the three of them had been brought in; the victim of a hit and run had arrived in the emergency department. As it turned out, the man had no identification on him and it seemed no one knew or missed him. The employee applying the id bracelet to Sam had somehow gone in the wrong room and tagged him as John Doe, while the unknown man received his bracelet. To have both of them of the same size and build had been a strange and tragic coincidence.

Ready to threaten the hospital with some action against them, the salvage yard owner found that there was no need, as the assistant administrator, he was talking to was way ahead of him. He assured him that they had already put the person, who made the mistake on unpaid leave, but would very likely give him a second chance, by putting him on probation and under supervision. In the meantime they were changing their system around and putting some measures in place that would ensure mistakes like this could no longer happen.

In addition they would not charge any medical bills to the three men and also handed Bobby a check over ten thousand dollars to cover any cost that might arise to them.

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The hunter couldn't believe how easy this had been and that for once things were going their way. Smiling he returned to Sam's room and handed the check to the older Winchester. It couldn't undo what happened, but it would help the brothers in their search for their father.

Looking at Sam, who was sleeping, he sat down and said, "How is he doing?"

Dean slightly squeezed the younger man's hand, which he had been holding ever since unwrapping from Sam's embrace.

"Actually, he is doing quite well. He told me he had a tear in his liver, which they couldn't fix, but it thankfully was on the very edge of the organ and so they just removed that part. He isn't going to have any problems from it. He also has three fractured ribs and a pneumo-thorax, which is obviously improving. About his head, well they found a small bleed, but by the time he got here it was self-contained and they didn't have to do surgery. They treated him for several days until the swelling went down. During that time he was under sedation and on a vent and only woke up an hour before we found him." Dean stopped and looked at his baby brother again, before turning back to Bobby, "And no, I wouldn't have believed him that he was doing okay, if the doc wouldn't have been in here, while he told me about it."

The older hunter grinned, it was such a long lasting game for the boys to try and make the other believe everything was fine that neither of them believed the other anymore. They could fool everybody else though, even their dad, but only because the head of the Winchester family wanted to believe them. The idjit, if he wanted to, he could see right through them, after all, Bobby had learned to do it a long time ago.

Startled out of his thoughts, he looked at a letter Dean held out to him, "What's that?"

"No idea, one of the nurses brought it in a while ago. It's addressed to you."

The older hunter looked at the envelope, turning it a couple times, before he opened it.

"It's postmarked in Postville, Iowa two days ago." He said then concentrated on reading the piece of paper he pulled out. After finishing he looked up. Searching for the right words, he realized that Sam was awake and watched him with almost as much expectation as Dean.

"It's from your daddy!"

"Dad…?" The older brother stood up, for the first time letting go of the younger boy's hand, "Why would he suddenly write?"

"Have you ever wondered how we got rescued?" Bobby looked at either boy.

"I assumed you called for help." Dean confessed.

"There was no connection out there and I was planning on going for help, but passed out before I could. Next thing I knew, I woke up here."

"So, dad…, he, he…" Sam stuttered, shaken by the thought their father had been this close.

"He writes he was in town, but couldn't make contact. He was actually investigating the same case, but when he saw us, decided to pull out. Here, read for yourselves…"

The older man handed the paper to Dean, who looked at it for a moment, before reading.

"…**I couldn't help but watch you for a while. It had been so long since I've seen you. I wish I could have made contact, yet it was too risky. I followed you until I was sure which area you would hit first. When you didn't return by morning, I called rescue, told them you guys needed help. Unfortunately there was some demon activity and I had to leave as soon as I knew they've found you. I have been on the run again ever since. By the time you receive this, I will be long gone. Please don't look for me. I will make contact as I can. Take care of my sons**** Bobby. John"**

Dean let the letter slip from his fingers, disappointed about not seeing his father, yet understanding his motives. His brother on the other hand started to squirm in the bed.

"We need to go, find him, while we still have a chance. We know he was in Postville two days ago, so let's go." He demanded, trying to get up, just to fall back with a groan.

"You're not going anywhere Sammy, not until the doc officially discharges you!" Dean ordered.

"But dad…" The younger man complained.

"Your daddy is long gone. He probably had one of his contacts keep the letter and mail it for him from Postville. For all we know he went south or west instead."

The firstborn Winchester could tell his sibling was still not satisfied, so he added, "Look Sammy, if dad could have made contact, he would have. He is attempting to keep us safe and by trying to follow him, we will only put him in danger."

It was clear by the look in the expressive hazels, that the younger hunter didn't like the explanation, yet accepted it as the truth. Tired he leaned back into the pillows, grateful he had his brother and Bobby at his side.

Being prepared for their youngest to go to sleep again, the two elder men were surprised, when his eyes opened again.

"Thanks!" Sam said with a yawn.

"For what?" Dean asked slightly confused.

"This was the best birthday present I had in years. I thought I lost you!"

"Not much of a birthday, being laid up in a hospital bed, but I promise you, I'll make it up to you, as soon as you get out of here!"

"Don't feel much like partying right now, I'm just happy to have you here again." The kid's eyes closed, as he reached for his brother's hand, which the other let him have only too willingly.

Knowing the younger man was already asleep, Dean leaned forward, whispering in his ear, "I know it's your birthday, but really, I feel like I got the gift hear, just like I did twenty-three years ago."

Although it wasn't meant for anyone else to hear, Bobby had no problems understanding the words the young man whispered into his baby brother's ear. Never letting on though, he turned around and whipped a small tear from the corner of his eye, scolding himself for having become such an old sentimental fool.

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Having the chest tube removed the next day proved painful for Sam, yet he welcomed the pain, as it brought him a step closer to going home. The doc actually had given him hope he could leave by the end of the week and the young man was determined to make it happen. Hospitals were not his favorite places.

Looking at the bland looking food in front of him, he pushed most of it away, but decided to at least eat some of the chicken noodle soup. His mother hens would have a fit, if he didn't eat something.

It was as if they knew his thoughts; as the two other men entered the room with there own food at just that moment. Sitting down, they unpacked their burgers and fries and started to eat**. **

After a while Dean noticed his brother had finished his soup and had pushed the tray away.

"I can see why you didn't want any of that other stuff, but how was the soup?" He asked.

"Actually not too bad!" Sam admitted.

"Great, I'm glad they can make good soup around here. I mean you really deserve good soup."

The younger Winchester gave his sibling a questioning look, "Okay, so what's going on, you sound way to enthusiastic about my soup."

"Busted…" Bobby grinned.

"Shut up!" Dean warned, before turning to his brother, "It's just, well I wanted to know what happened out there? You know that thing you did with the rarog."

Sam swallowed hard; he knew this would come up. Looking into his brother's green eyes, he said, "I really don't know."

Seeing the doubt written all over both men's faces, he added, "I mean I know what happened, I somehow held the creature off, even pushed him back to his alternative personality, yet I have no idea how I did it. All I know is that I panicked. I thought he was going to kill you, both times and then I really just watched myself do all those things. The only thing really clear was that it hurt, worse than anything else, but I also couldn't turn it off."

The kid looked almost apologetic at his brother and friend, finally averting his eyes and looking down, "I know you think I'm a freak." He whispered.

Dean stared at him for a moment, "What? No, no way do I think you are a freak." He insisted, "Sure, it was kinda freaky, but only because I was so scared for you. At least the second time, the first time I wasn't awake to notice."

"So you don't think I'm a monster?" Sam looked at him with doubt.

"No, I don't think you are a monster. You are my baby brother and although I snagged up all the handsomeness, I wouldn't call you a monster." The older man added to lighten the mood, getting a giggle out of Bobby and a small smirk from his brother.

Satisfied he ruffled Sam's shaggy hair, "Maybe a haircut would help." Turning to the older hunter, he said, "You got scissors on you?"

"You're so not touching my hair." The taller man warned him.

"Oh yeah, we'll see about that." Dean responded playfully, digging his fingers into the kid's chocolate brown locks.

Trying to move his brother's hand, Sam pushed it up with force and made his brother loose his balance, landing partially on the bed and him, their heads colliding and their lips touching. Before Dean could pull away, a loud, "Ooh…" from the doorway startled all three of them.

It was one of the younger nurses standing there, here eyes wide with surprise, "I…I'm sorry, I d…didn't know you two were a couple." She stuttered, before turning and fleeing from the room.

"No, no, you misunderstand, we are not, I mean really we are brothers." Scrambling off the bed as fast as his injured arm allowed it, Dean called after her.

His face fell, as he realized, it had been the one nurse, he had hoped to have a chance with, "Damn, what is it about us that makes everyone believe we are gay?"

"Must be that way too pretty face off yours." Sam pushed out, holding his arm tightly against his ribs, as he burst out laughing, being joined by Bobby almost immediately.

For a second Dean just stared, before he also started to laugh. To see Sam joke and laugh was probably worth loosing a conquest over. After all, family came first and Sam would always come even before that, because he was more than just family, he was his brother, son and best friend.

FIN

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Translation for the Polish of the rarog.

1* "You have humiliated me! This has to be punished; I will first make you watch as your family dies, before I end you!" The rarog screeched, "You will pay for trying to defeat me. No one fights rarog and gets away with it!"

2* "You are still making fun of me? Get ready to pay!"

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_So this is it, the end. Please let me know one more time, if you like it. I love reviews and I answer every single one. Hugs, Vonnie_


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